WALDKIRCH
Memories from my mother’s childhood town
A very personal visit and photo project, September 2021
By SU-EN
.
.
.
My mother, Erda Åkerlund, born Behrbohm, has in recent years started to show me old photographs telling me stories and memories. It is very hard for her to travel due to age, so I decided to make a visit to Waldkirch, near Freiburg in Germany, my mother’s childhood town. How will it be there in 2021? Will I find the places and people on the photos? Could I even make new friends and create a new ”family” through the visit?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I managed to find some of the places and people again and here is a small presentation. I just placed myself in the same space/frame as the old photos and in some cases invited people I met on the way to also join.
The new photos are taken by my friend KeiBi who accompanied me
to Waldkirch.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Arriving at the train station, I could hear my mother’s voice as she described the way to walk to their old house. For a young child, the way from their house to the village center and school was a very
long distance.
.
1950. Waldkirch village with Kastelburg in the background.
Around the ruins of Kastelburg, Erda and her friends and siblings were playing a lot.
.
2021. Waldkirch village center today. Visitors come here to hike around the hills of Schwarzwald.
.
.
After some walking around we found the house that Erda and family Behrbohm lived in.
Today it is a household for people with special needs.
.
1949. The steps of family Behrbohm’s house, Merklinstr. 38.
On the photo mother’s father Herman is missing. Erda told me that her mother Lilli had a hard time preparing all the children with best dresses and hairstyle for the photograph. Lilli made all the clothes for the children, and she was a very skilled dressmaker. Erda is in the front line, to the right.
.
2021. On the same steps… I could not get permission to enter nor have the residents to sit with me, but feel happy to see that they are a kind of family living there together now.
.
2021. To the right the house of family Seifried, and in the far back the house of family Behrbohm. Family Seifried was the only neighbour, and they owned the big mill that was a major business in Waldkirch in this time.
I took a chance and knocked on the door…
2021. Lilo, Erda’s best friend still lives here! Her son and his wife lives on the second floor. Lilo and her husband Fritz Gommel welcomed us with warm hearts. In the photo Lilo and Erda speak on the phone for the first time in many, many years. A very emotional moment!
.
1961. Frieda, the housekeeper of Opa Seifried.
.
2021. I did not meet Frieda on this trip. But I hope she can see these photos sometime.
.
1961. Claudia and Lilo in front of Seifried’s house.
The youngest sibling Behrbohm, Claudia, made a trip to Waldkirch in 1961. On the photo is also the dog Arco, a hunting dog.
.
2021. We recreated the situation, and Lilo had a strong presence during the photo session. It is quite a remarkable feeling to recreate a moment from the past. So much time that has passed, and we change so much. Or do we? Can we even say that we are the same person?
.
1950. All siblings in front of family Seifried’s fence.
Erda is on the left. The other children are from left Maxi, Ellen, Peter and the baby girl Claudia in front.
.
2021. Recreating the photo with Lilo, Fritz and a friend of Fritz’s, Ras Opoku, a musician from Ghana living in Waldkirch. Fritz has travelled with Ras to Ghana two times and spent time with his family there.
.
1950. Four siblings on the small bridge of the canal.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It was forbidden to go near the canal for the children, even if they did anyway. The Behrbohm house was located just by a canal, so naturally the children would sneak down there sometimes…The mill was located on another canal and it was also forbidden to go near there. One day there had been an accident and a woman had fallen into the canal and got stuck in the wheel of the mill. A terrifying memory for the children.
.
2021. Today there is a memorial park and monument of the mill. It is Fritz Gommel, Lilo’s husband that worked hard to ensure this.
.
1961. Claudia, Erda’s youngest sister in Waldkirch center square.
On the photo from 1961 there are cars and today no cars so I was confused if it was the right place.
.
2021. Today the traffic is gone. At the café where we had lunch, I managed to get a grumpy waiter to explain to me about the center. They rebuilt it and now there are no cars going through! The café and the sign from the photo from 1961 are still here. I tried to recreate the very charming ”film star” pose that Claudia is doing…
.
.
.
2021. This water fountain was a fine memory for my mother.
There is a photo of her in front of it somewhere in her boxes,
but she could not find it… Erda was dressed in a Dirndlkleid,
a dress for special occasions.
.
.
.
.
2021. The last place to find in Waldkirch is the Volkschule. To go to the school was a long walk for the children at that time! Erda went to this school until 1951, and then family Behrbohm moved to Linköping, Sweden, and she had to start grade one again.
.
1949. Volkschule, Waldkirch. It is the 1st year of school. Erda, top line, third from the left.
Her best friend Lilo is the first from left. The teacher is looking at the children, apparently something disturbed the order just before the photo was taken. Most likely they were told to look straight into the camera and behave…
Erda reflected, it was so clear this day, which children came from rich families and which who came from the farms, since the rich children came all dressed up this day.
.
2021. The school is still there. Sitting with me is Manfred, a young man from the area who was kind to show us the way to the school.
.
.
.
2021. The protestant church in Waldkirch. One Sunday the priest announced that the family Behrbohm was moving to Sweden. It was such big news for a small village like this. In Erda’s mind, it was almost impossible to grasp. In 1951 they moved, travelling by truck to Freiburg train station. Erda remembered their house getting smaller and smaller, and suddenly they were on the way. She was 8 years old and heading for a new life in a new and unknown country.
.
.
.
Thanks to all who helped in this project and who agreed to be in the photos! Erda and her siblings, Lilo, Fritz, Steve, Manfred and KeiBi.
Supported by Swedish Arts Council, The Swedish Arts Grants Committee, City of Uppsala, Cultural Affairs Board